Brazil faces Venezuela in tuneup for World Cup qualifier
Source: USA Today (Original Article)
Cars Auto
Financing Event
Tickets Jobs Real
Estate Online
Degrees Business Opportunities
Shopping
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Thousands of passionate Brazilian fans who flock to Friday night’s exhibition against Venezuela will miss seeing reigning FIFA player of the year Kaka.
More importantly for the world’s second-ranked team, he won’t play in two far more challenging qualifying matches later this month for the 2010 World Cup.
AC Milan, Kaka’s professional team, told Brazil it wouldn’t let him practice until next Tuesday after he had arthroscopic knee surgery May 23. And that would be just five days before a qualifier on June 15 at 28th-ranked Paraguay and eight days before another against Argentina, the No. 1 team.
So Brazil coach Dunga didn’t want to risk further injury to such a gifted player and decided not to use him in either of those games.
“The player needs to be in the best shape possible, so the decision was from his club team, Milan,” Dunga said Thursday through a translator. “That team pays his salary and Milan sent a letter not to use him. We cannot take any chances with a player of his caliber or any other players.”
AC Milan also told Brazil, the five-time world champions who were eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup, that it will not allow the 26-year-old Kaka to be one of the three players older than 23 that are permitted to play on the Olympic team in Beijing in August.
“He’s not disappointed,” said Dunga, the captain of Brazil’s 1994 World Cup champions who became coach after the 2006 Cup. “We work with the entire group more than the player.”
Fans, though, aren’t likely to be thrilled.
Last September, Brazil was the big crowd favorite when it beat Mexico 3-1 on the same Gillette Stadium field where Friday night’s game will be St.George Gold Credit Card played.
“The players get motivated and comfortable” …continue reading